The new cultivar is the result of a chance discovery in a commercial nursery in Suffolk, England. The inventor, John Lord, a citizen of England, discovered the new variety as a single branch, naturally occurring mutation growing in a commercial planting of the parent variety, the unpatented variety Coprosma repens ‘Pacific Night.’ Although unpatented in the United States, the parent variety is protected by Plant Breeder's Rights in Europe, under grant number 26069. The discovery was made in the Spring of 2006.
After selecting and isolating the new cultivar, asexual reproduction of the new cultivar ‘JWNCOPPS’ was first performed in the same commercial nursery by vegetative cuttings in the Fall of 2006. ‘JWNCOPPS’ has since produced several generations and has shown that the unique features of this cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type.